...and to all, a goodnight!

The kids got to open their present from Aunt Julie (in town from Omaha) on Christmas Eve. Matching jammies! Jack pot!

Before bed, we set out milk & cookies for Santa, and we also left a carrot for Rudolph.

Oliver decorated the cookies himself, and he signed his own name!

Family Vacation in Florida

My parents treated the whole family to a vacation in Siesta Key, Florida. We just got home from a long weekend of fun in the sun! Our kids did really well on the plane and were happy to eat snacks and watch videos the whole time.

Vacation Posts

Road Trip to Iowa

Andrew and I spent nearly a week taking a road trip to Des Moines with the kids.  My parents went with, in their car, and we got to visit with my brother and sister. 

The kids did unexpectedly well in the car.  Jo slept whenever we drove more than half an hour, so we drove through her naps.  Oliver loved being in the car, and he spent a lot of his time drawing on his magnetic board and playing various games on the iPad.

I recorded most of our adventures on my travel blog here:
http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/WhirledPeas/Trips/19881

And the doctor says...

...I was 7 to 8 weeks along for my appointment on February 26. I added 32.5 weeks from then and came up with an approximate due date of October 12.

This means in a week or two, I can call an OB-Gyn to set an appointment and have my first ultrasound! From there, they'll be able to give me a more specific due date.
Andrew's being a strong resource for me. He doesn't seem nervous at all and frequently offers to help me with anything and everything. I came home yesterday to some hot dinner and clean dishes. Honestly, I think he's worried about the possibility of having a girl, though. I don't think he knows what to do with a girl!
While I can't control my due date, I feel terrible that it seems to be about a week from when my sister wants to have her wedding. I don't want to miss it, but I can't see myself travelling when I'm so close to delivery. She's going to be such a beautiful bride and deserves to have her sister there for her big day. I told her, as long as it's physically possible for me to go and the doctor says it's OK, I'll be there.

In other baby news, my cousin Amanda is also expecting! She's due at the end of August. I can't wait, and I'm already thinking about how fun it will be that she'll have a kid the same age as mine. Julie and I always got so excited to see Tara and Amanda when we were growing up (of course, we still do! But I don't think our enthusiasm can match when we were little). I'm excited to pass that fun on!

A Kushy Weekend

For my Grandma Jo's memorial weekend, we had aunts, uncles, cousins, and so many others here in town. Aunt Gerry and Wayne flew in from Maine, Tina and Aunt Linda flew in from Boston, Uncle Mark came from Ohio, Uncle Matt came from Missouri, Julie came from Nebraska, Aunt Jackie came from California, Jana and Ian (who I met for the first time) came from Portland, and Aunt Carol, Uncle Mike, Missy, Mia, Glen, Jo and Jack all drove in from Iowa.

Tina stayed at my apartment. I was so stoked to have my first house guest! Andrew and I totally bleached the shower and toilets and vacuumed and had fun grocery shopping. I'm telling you, we're ready to be a regular bed & breakfast now. Tina was the best house guest, ever (and I'm not just saying that because she's my only house guest). She totally let me give her a tour and just generally showed an interest in everything, right down to the bagels. Hurray for her! Next time, I'll make her try Rock Band. Also next time, we won't be so exhausted from socializing so we can go for runs!

Having Julie in town was a hoot, too. I spent a lot of my time with her and Tina, just generally laughing it up and throwing our opinions out about everyone and every thing. Good times.

Uncle Mark and I talked a lot about the Disney World Half Marathon we're running in January. Turns out, in addition to us and my mom, his daughters Dina and Amber are planning on running in it. This'll be too much fun!

Andrew enjoyed meeting people and demonstrating his magic skills. At some point, he even had Jana and Ian practicing the disappearing coin trick. Too cute.

The most difficult part of the weekend was, of course, the memorial itself. We went up to Andrew's parents' land near Fairplay and sang and talked of our memories. I started to get upset about scattering Grandma's ashes. Not that I thought it was a bad idea; I knew it's what she'd wanted. It just is hard to say goodbye, I guess. I felt angry about not having her with us, and I hated thinking about everything she doesn't get to see. I know I'll move past those feelings and be able to enjoy her memories, but it's just so hard sometimes, and I feel so mad that I don't get to have her around anymore. I wish I could say more, but I'm so emotionally drained! It was a toughie, for sure.

And now... now things have quieted down. Some family is leaving already tomorrow morning. This means I'll sleep in, wake up slowly, and then reach out and connect with those that are still hanging out in town. I'm wiped, and I think it's time to cuddle up with a book and then head to sleep.

Goodnight!

Macy's Sucks.

I'm going to be straight with you. I'm writing this blog to (hopefully) convince you not to waste your money with Macy's. This week, I had the most horrendous problems/customer service with them, and it's left me upset, frustrated, and embarressed.

My sister's birthday is Sunday, April 27. On Thursday, April 17, I decided to order her birthday gifts so that way it would definitely get to Omaha in time for her big day.

First, I went to Williams-Sonoma, and I ordered her some Sprinkles cupcake mix (because it's so tasty). On Target.com, I found a cupcake decorating kit and a book on how to decorate cupcakes into puppies and other cute things. I thought she'd love it.

Then, on Macys.com, I found the same cupcake carrying case that I have. I thought it'd be good for the gift because it came with cupcake pans (for large and small cupcakes!). I went as far to think it would be good for her because she could bring cupcakes with her to school in the case. It seemed like a great gift.

The next day (Friday), as I was glancing through my confirmation emails, I realized that the cupcake carrying case had an expected shipping date of June 1 on it. I was mad at myself for not seeing that when I ordered it. Then I remembered I had checked the info on the cupcake case. I remember worrying when I ordered it because it said it ships in 3 business days and can take up to 5 business days after that to arrive. I remember thinking, "Crap, maybe she won't get it on time." Just to be sure, I went back on to Macys.com to look at the item, and, sure enough, plain as day, it said it is in stock and ships out on average of 3 days. It still said that on the website (they hadn't updated it).

I decided to shoot them an email to ask why it was expected to ship on June 1. I told them my sister's birthday is April 27. I thought, by giving them this information, they'd look into it and maybe get it to her ontime. Or, if that didn't work, I thought maybe they wouldn't charge me the $10 shipping fees.

This morning, I finally got to my email again. There, in my inbox, was a response from Macy's. You won't believe what it said.

They told me that the item is backordered from their vendor (which is fine. Crap happens. But, still, maybe they'd give me free shipping, or a shipping coupon to use at a later date. something. anything. but no.). They then started quoting this law to me. They said that when an item's shipping date is rescheduled, they tell the purchaser. If the purchaser does not respond within 30 days, they can legally cancel the order.

They then said because I did not repond within 30 days, they have cancelled my order.

What?

I made the purchase less than a week ago. I made it on THURSDAY. It hasn't been 30 days. I never received any email explaining it was backstocked. All I'd gotten until that point was a confirmation email from my order saying the expected ship date was June 1. That's it. How can they cancel my order?

I'm not even making this up. Seriously, check out their email to me:

Dear Rebecca Shattuck,

Thank you for your recent e-mail regarding order # 446******.

Recently, we had sent you a notification regarding the following merchandise: CC/CAKE CARRIER 5PC SET These items were backordered with the vendor.

Federal Trade Commission guideline requires that we obtain an acceptance of this new shipment date within 30 calendar days from notifying the purchaser. If we do not receive contact from the purchaser within the 30-day timeframe to accept the new shipping date, the order is required to be canceled. As we did not receive this contact within the 30-day timeframe, we consequently canceled your order for the merchandise in question. Please note that this merchandise has not been charged. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause you.

30 days my butt! They didn't notify me about any backstock until this same email in which they told me my order was cancelled. And there definitely wasn't any 30 day notice. What the hell!

Do me a favor, spend your money somewhere where they don't screw you over. I'm pretty sure Target's getting Julie's birthday present to her on time. I'm going to order a similar case from Target, but not before making sure everyone knows how crappy Macy's is.

Macy's sucks.